Emma Hayes has gone 13-0-2 in her first year as head coach of the U.S. Women’s National Team, including securing a gold medal at the 2024 Paris Olympics. The team closed out the year with a 0-0 draw at England and a 2-1 comeback win at the Netherlands. Despite this success, though, Hayes has a number of questions to answer heading into 2025, starting with the roster.

Goalkeeper Alyssa Naeher has been a cornerstone of the USWNT for nearly a decade, playing her first game for the team in December 2014. She started in goal for the States’ most recent gold medal team, the 2019 FIFA World Cup champions, and the bronze medal 2020 Tokyo Olympic team, making a total of 115 appearances on her nation’s behalf and conceding a USWNT-record 0.50 goals per match. Now, she’s retiring.

“I feel very fulfilled with what we’ve been able to do, and it takes a lot out of you, honestly,” said Naeher. “I’ve given everything I’ve had to this team, and I don’t do anything halfway… Coming off the Olympics, having the year that we had, entering into a new cycle, a new stage for this team, it just felt like I’ve kind of given everything I have to give to this team, and it just felt like the right time.”

Naeher’s dominance in net, though, has simply meant little international experience for other American goaltenders over the last eight years. The most obvious option is Casey Murphy of the North Carolina Courage, who backed Naeher up at the 2024 Olympics and has the advantage of some international experience.

However, more inexperienced goaltenders Mandy Haught, Jane Campbell and Phallon Tullis-Joyce are also in the mix. Haught, in particular, had the “best [NWSL] 2024 of any U.S.-eligible goaltender, period,” and debuted for the USWNT in October with a 3-0 shutout.

“The minute you start chopping and changing the team, the harder it is for you to carry out what you want,” Hayes said. “But I want to see the players. I don’t want to sit there and just say, ‘Well, I’m going to put all my experienced players on, develop the connections and the combinations for that now.’…I owe it to the entire playing pool to look at everyone.”

Besides 36-year-old Naeher’s retirement, the rest of the team is getting dramatically younger.

USWNT stars Alex Morgan and Kelley O’Hara, 35 and 36 years old respectively, retired this year, leaving question marks in all areas of the roster. Amid concerns about the team’s increasingly dysfunctional midfield unit, perhaps the biggest roster news of the year emerged: the commitment of 17-year-old phenom Lily Yohannes.

Yohannes spent the first ten years of her life in Springfield, Virginia, before her family moved to the Netherlands. Despite her years in the Netherlands and the interest of the Dutch national team, though, she ultimately committed to the USWNT in November.

“It definitely wasn’t an easy decision,” Yohannes told Ajax TV. “I’ve lived in the Netherlands for the past seven years. I’ve really adapted to everything here. I’ve made so many great friends and have experienced so many great things here. So I have a great connection to the Netherlands as well.”

On December 3, the 17-year-old played in the USWNT’s last game of the year – against the Dutch in The Hague’s Bingoal Stadium. Despite getting repeatedly booed by the home crowd, she factored into Lynn Williams‘ game-winning goal in the 71st minute and helped the team cap the year with a 2-1 win.

“It is a choice I have to make, and I am happy with it,” she said, acknowledging the crowd’s reactions. “I just want to continue now and just work hard to help the team and earn a place in the team.”

Yohannes and goaltending are just two of the pieces that will fall into place in the run-up to USWNT play in 2025. Hayes intends to continue tweaking designs and developing players, beginning with a “futures” training camp in January 2025 that has been extended to a pool of U23 players.

The team will have its first test of the new year when it plays Australia, Japan and Colombia at the SheBelieves Cup in February.

“We have to be patient with them and give them time,” said Hayes. “Like, we’re not competing to win a World Cup tomorrow. But we have to develop players and give them experiences, and I will not shift from that.”

United States women’s soccer legend Alex Morgan officially announced her retirement Thursday, ending a senior career that spanned nearly 16 years. In that time, Morgan led the U.S. to two World Cup victories and an Olympic gold medal, among many other achievements.

“I grew up on this team, it was so much more than soccer,” Morgan said in a statement Thursday. “It was the friendships and the unwavering respect and support among each other, the relentless push for global investment in women’s sports, and the pivotal moments of success both on and off the field.”

In the midst of the United States’ dynastic run in women’s soccer, Morgan joined the national team in 2008 and was the youngest player on the team at the 2011 World Cup. Joining around the same time as Carli Lloyd, Megan Rapinoe and Becky Sauerbrunn, she became an integral part in keeping the program at the highest levels of the sport into the 2010s.

Coming out of the University of California in 2010, Morgan went on to have a successful club career as well, playing for 10 teams in brief stints while also participating in international competition. She has spent her last three seasons with the San Diego Wave, scoring 22 goals in 45 appearances.

Though she participated at the club level throughout her career, Morgan’s most well-known moments all occurred while representing the United States. In 15 seasons, she made 224 appearances and scored 123 goals, earning the title of co-captain in 2018 and held the title with Rapinoe and Lloyd until 2020.

“I am so incredibly honored to have borrowed the crest for more than 15 years,” Morgan said. “I learned so much about myself in that time and so much of that is a credit to my teammates and our fans. I feel immense pride in where this team is headed, and I will forever be a fan of the USWNT. My desire for success may have always driven me, but what I got in return was more than I could have ever asked and hoped for.”

In a sport that is still growing in the United States, Morgan has been an industry leader, a profoundly talented individual who has promoted women’s soccer to aspiring players and fans alike. Soccer in the United States has exploded in popularity since the women’s program’s rise in the early 1990s, and Morgan did her part in propagating that success in a new generation.

In her final World Cup appearance before retirement, USWNT’s Megan Rapinoe‘s missed penalty kick summarized their painful loss to Sweden 5-4. The United States women’s national team exited in the round of 16 for the first time in its history in Melbourne, Australia.

But Rapinoe wasn’t the only one to miss their penalty kick, as she was one of three U.S. players to miss their penalties in a shootout after the game was scoreless through regular and extra time.

Asked what she was thinking when she stepped up to take her penalty, Rapinoe said: “I’m gonna score. Back of the net. Always.”

“A sick joke,” Rapinoe said. “That’s why I had that smile on my face. Like, ‘You got to be f—ing kidding me. I’m going to miss the penalty?’ I honestly can’t remember the last time I missed a penalty. Not in a game for a very long time.”

“But that’s the way it goes. I’ve definitely thought about that before – it’s always a possibility when you step up there. But I thought I was going to make it. I thought everyone was going to make it.”

Rapinoe correctly remembered that her last missed penalty in general, regardless of country or club, was in 2018, when goalkeeper Aubrey Kingsbury made a save against her in the NWSL.

Prior to the World Cup starting in early July, Rapinoe announced the Australia and New Zealand tournament would be her last, planning to retire at the end of the 2023 NWSL season making this year’s World Cup her final one.

“I feel so lucky and so grateful to play as long as I have and been on as many successful teams as I have, and be a part of a very special generation that has done so much on and off the field,” Rapinoe said. “It would be hard to feel disappointed in any type of way.”

In 2006, she made her USWNT debut and was part of the World Cup-winning squads in 2015 and 2019.

“Obviously there’s the immediate disappointment of being out of the tournament, but I’m ok. I’m ready in a lot of ways to be done and I feel at peace with that.”

Rapinoe was moved to tears when asked to reflect on her final World Cup and her career.

“I’ve loved every bit of my career,” she said. “I’ll miss it to death, but it also feels like the right time and that’s ok.”

“It’s some dark humor, me missing the penalty at the end of this game,” she added, laughing.

Rapinoe will be known as one of the most impactful figures in the history of soccer in the U.S. and in the global women’s game as an icon. On the turf, she was reputable for scoring in creative ways and had a handful of clutch performances. Her personality defined her game and was a vocal supporter of many social issues including LGBTQ rights, racial inequality, voter rights, and gender and pay equality.

The United States women’s soccer team salvaged a 1-1 tie against the Netherlands in the World Cup Wednesday, ending a 16-game winning streak dating back to February. The U.S. trailed 1-0 following an early Dutch goal but Lindsey Horan responded in the 62nd minute to secure the draw.

Though American players did not appear as sharp as they did in a commanding 2-0 victory over Vietnam to kick off World Cup proceedings last week, the team did well enough to maintain control of the group.

With one win and one draw through two games, the U.S. still shares first place with the Netherlands, good enough to advance to the knockout stage without further setbacks. The Americans will play Portugal in the final group-stage game next Tuesday, August 1.

Though the United States still maintains a 19-game unbeaten streak in World Cup games, the draw is their first since 2015. When Dutch player Jill Roord scored in the 17th minute and the Americans failed to respond after 45 minutes, it was the first time that the team had trailed at halftime since 2011.

The U.S. finally began to challenge the Netherlands in the second half, though the team still failed to capitalize on several opportunities. Shortly before Horan scored the equalizer off a corner kick, she appeared to be fouled by her French club teammate and Dutch opponent, Danielle Van de Donk. Horan delivered a fiery celebration afterward.

In the immediate aftermath of the United States’ draw, many are already considering whether or not the world is finally ready to challenge the Stars and Stripes in women’s soccer. Dutch coach Andries Jonker told reporters before the game that he was eager to test the waters.

“I think the whole women’s football world is very interested in getting an answer on the question: Are we getting close?” Jonker said. “And the feeling is yes because of the improvement all over the world. But tomorrow is the first time we can check.”

Even as Americans reach the end of another dynasty and the rest of the world looks to capitalize, the United States remains the front-runner to win the World Cup, as they did in 2015 and 2019. In such a competitive format, however, it often only takes a single loss.

On Tuesday, the U.S. Soccer Federation (USSF) offered identical contract proposals for both the United States Women’s National Team Players Association (USWNTPA) and the United States National Soccer Team Players Association (USNSTPA). This new proposal would align the women’s and men’s senior national teams under one collective bargaining agreement.

This update comes after many years of different generations of USWNT players fighting the soccer federation over gender pay equity. Most recently, in 2019, twenty-eight players of the U.S. women’s World Cup-winning team filed a gender discrimination lawsuit against the USSF.

Players such as Alex Morgan and Megan Rapinoe have been leading the charge for equality. They have been the most publicly vocal, advocating on several different platforms for the cause. Both players had important roles in winning the 2015 and 2019 FIFA World Cups for the USWNT. Although the lawsuit was filed months before the World Cup in 2019, the victory only strengthened their position and fueled the debate. “I think to be on this team is to understand these issues,” Rapinoe told The New York Times. “And I think we’ve always — dating back to forever — been a team that stood up for itself and fought hard for what it felt it deserved and tried to leave the game in a better place.”

Recently, it was Morgan making the statements on behalf of her teammates. She spoke out with optimism on Wednesday after the USSF’s proposal. “We still need to chat about the statement given by U.S. Soccer. But any commitment to equal pay publically is good,” Morgan said. “However, we need to look line by line at what they’re providing.”

The USSF statement is a significant event in the lawsuit’s timeline. Morgan, along with the others from the USWNT, believes this is a good sign.

If the U.S. Women’s National Soccer Team hopes to make a splash with another gold medal, they will need to overcome a shocking 3-0 defeat at the hands of Sweden in their opening game. The loss snaps a 44-game win streak for the team.

Sweden has a history of getting the better of the U.S. team. In the 2016 Rio Games, Sweden bested them in the quarterfinals, topping the United States in penalties after regular and extra time found the squads knotted at one goal apiece.

Sweden dominated from start to finish, outshooting the U.S. 10 to 3 in the first half and carrying a 1-0 lead into the second frame. The United States only recorded one shot on the cage while the Swedish squad posted six shots on goal in the first 45 minutes of the game.

Just nine minutes into the second frame of action Sweden doubled its lead.

While some lucky bounces seemed to go Sweden’s way, the U.S. had none of them. Multiple shots rang off the post, and the U.S. seemed unable to recover from these misses.

A finish off of a cross from the swing put Sweden up 3-0, sealing the victory.

The loss marks the first time the U.S. has lost under head coach Vlatko Andonovski and is the team’s first since 2019.

The U.S. will face New Zealand on July 24 and Australia on July 27 to conclude round-robin group play. While the loss does not eliminate the U.S. from reaching the knockout stage, it certainly places a heavy emphasis on the next two games, which now feel like must-win contests.

Stay tuned for more updates on Megan Rapinoe and the rest of the USWNT.

Most athletes have pre-game routines or rituals in order to “get into the zone.” So how do the United States Women’s Soccer Team prepare for each game?

“I would say that I’m the DJ now of the team,” Crystal Dunn said. “So for me, I’m just trying to get everybody right for the game and to just connect to the players through music. I think that’s something we really enjoy, you know that time in the locker room together to have a bit of a laugh but also to kind of refocus and go out to the field and get the job done.”

“I’m usually very anxious on game days,” said Becky Sauerbrunn. “So, for me, a really important ritual is nap time or it’s also just listening to some tunes on the bus ride and just doing some visualization. So I’m replaying plays in my head before I actually have to do them. That seems to calm me down a little smidge.”

“I don’t really have any weird rituals,” said Megan Rapinoe. “I literally do the same exact thing every single time. Nothing about it is interesting.”

The United States have been placed in Group D for the Tokyo Olympic Games. They will face Sweden, Australia and New Zealand before presumably advancing to the quarter finals.

The Tokyo Olympics Games are going to be a very different experience than any other Olympic Games for athletes gearing up for this summer. The United States Women’s Soccer Team is used to having an incredible amount of fans and support when they take the field. However, that won’t be the case this year, as Americans are not permitted to travel to Tokyo. The team will not be playing in front of a crowd cheering them on. In fact, as perennial favorites, the fans who are allowed to attend the games may be envious of the Americans’ past success and boo them.

“Of course we want to have our friends and family there to feel that support, but we feel that support no matter where we are,” said Becky Sauerbrunn. “Like, we are a traveling circus. We are always away from our families and partners. We’re kind of used to that feeling. Of course it’s incredibly sad that we won’t have that for us in Tokyo… But it is all business for us. We will miss them; we will also feel their support from back in the states. And the most important thing is that everyone stays safe throughout this entire Olympics.”

Of course, Sauerbrunn is correct. The most important thing is that everyone is safe. That being said, it will surely be difficult for the United States Women’s Soccer Team to get down to business as usual during such unprecedented times.

“There’s going to be a lot of different challenges,” Megan Rapinoe said. “All of the different safety measures and protocols that will undoubtedly be in place will just be sort of another thing that we have to think about and another thing that our amazing support staff has to organize around. It will probably affect them more than it will affect us to be honest. They do such an amazing job at making sure that the only thing that we have to do is focus on playing.”

The United States will face Sweden, Australia and New Zealand in the group stage of the Olympic Games.

After winning the World Cup in 2019, the United States Women’s Soccer Team were heavily favored as they geared up for the 2020 Olympic Games. After defeating England 2-1 in a very close semi-finals match, the Americans were tasked with facing off against an impressive Netherlands squad on July 7, 2019.

The United States responded with a very convincing 2-0 victory to win the World Cup. After a scoreless first half, Megan Rapinoe broke the tie in the 61st minute. Rose Lavelle scored eight minutes later to clinch the championship for the Americans. The United States has not lost since, keeping a 38-game unbeaten streak alive.

Obviously, the Olympics have been postponed until the summer of 2021. While most would assume that the players would see the time in quarantine during the pandemic as an unhealthy distraction, Megan Rapinoe, Crystal Dunn and Becky Sauerbrunn say that this time has actually been extremely helpful. And now they hope to become the first team in history to win the Olympic Games immediately after winning a World Cup.

“It would be an incredible achievement,” said Dunn. “It would be historical to be the first team to obviously do it… but I think this team is more than capable of being able to do that just given the fact that we had this break to regroup, reset and refocus. I know after 2016, all of us are hungry to get back out there and really show what this team is all about and hopefully bring home a gold medal,” Dunn added.

“For us, this was a nice little silver lining of Covid and the pandemic,” said Rapinoe. “Just to have a year to rest. Some players played a lot, went over seas. Some players, like myself, took more time for themselves, time that we never really get to get our bodies right and just to have that break. I think of all the teams, we probably benefit the most just because we would have been so tired, particularly after all the wildness after 2019.”

In a pre-Olympics friendly match against Sweden, the United States were minutes away from suffering their first loss in over two years. Fortunately, Rapinoe nailed a penalty shot with three minutes left in regulation to finish the game in a 1-1 draw. Perhaps the time off wasn’t as helpful as the Americans think it was. That meeting with Sweden on April 10 snapped the United States’ 16-game winning streak, two short from a program record.

“Honestly, I think we just want to make history,” said Sauerbrunn. “We hold very high standards and have high goals for ourselves. And one of those things is to do it back-to-back.”

Perhaps the draw against Sweden will properly motive the United States Women’s Soccer Team just in time for the Olympic Games.

On Wednesday, the soccer group draws for the Tokyo Olympics took place. The draw saw the United States Women’s National Team be placed in group G.

The USWNT will be placed in Group D with old rivals Sweden, Australia and New Zealand. The USWNT will first play against Sweden on July 21, in Tokyo. Then, they will face New Zealand on July 24, and lastly Australia on July 27.

The Women’s national team’s first matchup with Sweden will be a familiar one. Both national teams have faced one another various time. It will be their 42nd meeting and fourth in the last three years. The two teams faced one another in the 2019 World Cup, with that meeting ending with a 2-0 win for the USWNT. Sweden was also the team that knocked the USWNT out of the 2016 Summer Olympics on penalty kicks in the quarterfinals.

The USWNT is looking to win their group for an opportunity to advance to the the medal rounds. “After waiting an extra year for this Olympics, the draw represents a real milestone in our journey and helps us focus in even more on our preparation and what we need to do to achieve our goals,” USWNT head coach Vlatko Andonovski said. “We have great respect for all three of our group opponents, and we know this tournament will push us to our limits both mentally and physically, as well as challenge us every game technically and tactically, so we will do everything we can in the next three months to prepare for success,” Andonovski said.

Winning Olympic gold will make the USWNT the first women’s team to win a World Cup and an Olympic gold medal back-to-back.

The other groups for the Women’s soccer tournament are as follows:

Group E: Japan, Canada, Great Britain, Chile

Group F: China, Brazil, Zambia, Netherlands

Group G: Sweden, United States, Australia, New Zealand

The United States Women’s National Team discussed the devastating loss to Sweden in the 2016 Rio Olympic Games that sent them packing early. After winning the gold in the 2012 Olympic Games in London, the women’s team came up short, finishing in fifth place in 2016.

“It was terrible, obviously,” captain Megan Rapinoe said on that final loss in 2016. “Like Becky said, we have very high standards for the team, which is championship or total failure. So, we felt like total failures. We didn’t complete the task. We didn’t play particularly well. It was kind of a particularly gutting loss in a lot of ways,” Rapinoe said.

“It definitely left, I wouldn’t say a bad taste in people’s mouth; I think it left a fire under people to never let that happen again,” Rapinoe added.

The women’s team is looking to regain a gold medal in 2021 in Tokyo. The United States are probably considered the favorites, but they aren’t taking anything for granted this time around.

“We certainly have that in the back of our mind,” Rapinoe said. “I think everybody who was there in Rio does not want that to be their last Olympic experience or their only Olympic experience or the one that’s freshest.”

The 2021 Olympic Games are scheduled to take place from July 21 to August 6. The draw has yet to be determined, but it is only a matter of time before we find out who the Americans will be playing in the group stage.

Golden State Warriors forward Draymond Green has responded to Megan Rapinoe’s criticism of his remarks about the gender wage gap.

On Thursday, Green spoke to reporters and clarified his stance on the gender wage gap. Green reaffirmed his stance in supporting what Rapinoe is doing and is hoping that he can help out.

“At the end of the day, what Megan wants and what I want is the same thing,” Green said. “And if she believes that doing something a certain way gets her to the end goal, I’m all for that… And if I believe doing something a certain way gets to the end goal, I’m all for that. So if we can both do something to move the needle to get to the end goal, great,” Green added.

The issue stems from a series of tweets that Golden State’s forward put out on March 27. In the series of tweets, Green seemed to blame the women for “complaining” and not taking action over disparities in pay and investment in women’s sports.

On a Wednesday zoom call ahead of the Tokyo Olympics, Rapinoe responded to the Warriors’ forward. “You obviously showed your whole a-s in not even understanding what we all talk about all the time – WNBA players and us on the national team… You don’t think we asked for more money? I mean, what are we screaming about? Nonstop!” Rapinoe told reporters.

Green took the opportunity on Thursday to clarify and say that his message was reconstructed. “A lot of what I said in the tweet – you can’t really make out my full position from my tweets,” he said. “Which was intentional because I don’t want you to make out my full position from a tweet.” The forward clarified that he instead wants to bring attention to the issues with his tweets. “I want to have these conversations to help get over here to the side of good, to the side that we’re all trying to get to, to the side that we want to see these women get,” Green said.

The former All-Star heard Rapinoe’s criticism but was not offended by what she said. “We all don’t have to think the same thing or take the same path to get to a result – that’s just not realistic,” Green told reporters. “We all don’t have to take that path, so if her path that she’s going to take is different to get to the result or the path that I want to help take is different to get to the result, as long as we’re both working towards the same result, I have no issue with that.”

Megan Rapinoe is continuing the fight for female equality and representation in sports.

The U.S. Women’s National Team star spoke before Congress on Wednesday about the disparities which still exist between men’s and women’s sports, specifically with salary and working conditions. Rapinoe spoke to members of the Congressional House Oversight Committee as a part of Equal Pay Day. Rapinoe argued that the true potential of women’s sports is not being realized due to a lack of investment in facilities, as well as in the players themselves. Rapinoe followed this video call with a meeting later in the day with President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden, along with other members of the national team.

Rapinoe is a two-time FIFA Women’s World Cup champion, winning in 2015 and 2019, and a gold medalist at the 2012 London Summer Olympics, all while playing for the USWNT. However, despite the team’s numerous achievements on the field, they are still paid less than members of the men’s team.

Rapinoe’s appearance before Congress also comes a few days after photos and videos were made public of the alarming inequality between the men’s and women’s NCAA basketball tournaments. The video showed a warehouse sized room of various weight training equipment for men’s teams, while women’s teams were provided with only a single rack of dumbbells. The NCAA has since made improvements to the women’s facilities, and have stated that they will be making a review of other issues pertaining to the resources allocated to the women’s tournament.

Rapinoe pointed out that if gender discrimination through wages can occur for athletes on the highest stage, then it can happen to all women. She hopes that her testimony will help bolster the passing of legislation introduced earlier this month by Representatives Doris Matsui and Rosa DeLauro, which will dissolve the wage gap between the men’s and women’s national teams.

Forward Trinity Rodman, daughter of NBA legend Dennis Rodman, was selected with the No. 2 overall pick in the National Women’s Soccer League by the Washington Spirit.

Trinity is the youngest of the Rodman family, and her older brother DJ plays college basketball at Washington State. Rodman, 18, was also supposed to play at Washington State, but the last college soccer season was canceled due to the coronavirus pandemic. Instead of joining her brother at college, Rodman is moving forward with her professional career.

Last year, she played on the US national under-20 women’s soccer team and led them to the Concacaf Championship in March 2020.

“To even just be in the draft with my situation and my age is insane, but to be No 2 to an amazing team is out of this world like I couldn’t ask for anything more,” Rodman told ESPN. “DC has just got an awesome program, awesome team. The coach [Richie Burke] is amazing. I’ve talked to him a couple times. I know he’s a hard head coach, but I’m so excited to be his player and learn and get better.”

“He was an amazing athlete,” she said about her father. “And I got those genes from him, but I’m excited to be known as Trinity Rodman and not just as Rodman‘s daughter. I’m excited to pave my own path and get better throughout this journey.”

In this year’s NWSL draft, expansion team Racing Louisville used the first overall pick to select a member of the US women’s national team, Emily Fox. Fox, 22, was a defender at the University of North Carolina and appeared with the women’s national soccer team three times.

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The United States Women’s National Soccer Team (USWNT) scored its first victory against the U.S. Soccer Federation. Both sides have announced that they have reached an agreement on Tuesday.

The USWNT was originally going to make a claim against the soccer federation on the basis of unequal working conditions in soccer with a date for the trial being January. This also presents another positive step in repairing their relationship.

The U.S. Soccer president Cindy Parlow Cone said, “This settlement is good news for everyone and I believe will serve as a springboard for continued progress.”

The settlement would provide better accommodations and new policies for the women’s soccer team. Legal documents say that both the men’s and women’s teams will now play at “top-tier venues” and “maintain comparable budgets” for hotels. Both women’s and men’s teams will now have a support staff of between 18 to 21 federation employees. Furthermore, the legal filings say that the U.S. Soccer federation has to implement these policies for “a minimum of four full years.” After that, “any subsequent changes to the policy shall be subject to collective bargaining with the USWNTPA.”

Although the case of the unequal working condition is settled, there is another case that looks like there will be no settlement in sight. The USWNT will now focus on moving forward with their other case against the U.S. Soccer over unequal wages.

The USWNT is seeking $67 million in back pay, something that the U.S. Soccer Federation says it cannot provide. Cone said that the money would “bankrupt the federation.” So, Cone is trying to work with the USWNT to find a compromise, and with their recent settlement, there is renewed hope.

Cone said, “We hope today’s positive step forward will result in the USWNT accepting our standing offer to discuss contract options. As a former USWNT player, I can promise you that I am committed to equality between the USWNT and USMNT. My goal is, and has always been, to come to a resolution on all equal pay matters and inspire a new era of collaboration, partnership, and trust between the USWNT and the federation.”

The USWNT case on unequal wages was dismissed by a judge in May. The USWNT could not appeal the decision until their other case regarding unfair working conditions was resolved. With both sides reaching a settlement, they are now able to appeal the decision by the judge. USWNT spokeswoman Molly Levinson affirmed the appeal by releasing a statement saying, “We now intend to file our appeal to the court’s decision which does not account for the central fact in this case that women players have been paid at lesser rates than men who do the same job.”

Before they could do so, the settlement has to be approved by a judge, reviewed by the players before being settled. Once the settlement is completed, the judge would then grant the USWNT permission to move forward with the appeal. After that, they will have a 30-day deadline to file the appeal.

In 2016, U.S. Women’s Soccer star player Megan Rapinoe knelt during the national anthem, showing solidarity with then San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick, who knelt during the national anthem protesting racial injustice and police brutality in the United States. Months after Rapinoe knelt, U.S. Soccer instituted a policy which forced players to “stand respectfully” during the paying of the national anthem.

On Monday, amid the nationwide protests in support of the Black Lives Matter movement, the USWNT issued a statement on Twitter, calling for this policy to be repealed. In their statement, the team said, “We believe the Federation should immediately repeal the ‘Anthem Policy,’ publish a statement acknowledging the policy was wrong when it was adopted, and issue an apology to our black players and supporters. Further, we believe the Federation should lay out its plans on how it will now support the message and movement that it tried to silence four years ago. Until USSF does so, the mere existence of the policy will continue to perpetuate the misconceptions and fear that clouded the true meaning and significance of Colin Kaepernick, Megan Rapinoe and other athletes taking a knee — that black people in America have not been and continue to not be afforded the same liberties and freedoms as white people and that police brutality and systemic racism exist in this country. This is everybody’s responsibility, including this union and its members; we could and should have done more in the past. We are committed to rising up against racist, hateful and unjust acts to effect change. Black lives matter.”

This statement by the team comes a day prior to a special board meeting by U.S. Soccer on Tuesday to discuss their anthem policy. It appears that some members of the board share the views of the USWNT. Steve Malik, who is on the board said while speaking with the Philadelphia Inquirer, said that there is an opportunity here to make history. “Being on the right side of history on this thing makes a lot of sense to me,” he said. “I think what’s happening in our country right now is an opportunity to really address systemic problems that have been there a long time. I think we all realize that we certainly have to allow, and frankly support, efforts to bring some justice to this equation … While this is the time that soccer has an opportunity to step up and be part of the solution, we all in our own individual way can contribute to that.”

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The United States Women’s National Team has secured their spot in Tokyo for the 2020 Olympic Games. Defeating Mexico 4-0 on Friday night, the United States heads to the title game of the CONCACAF Women’s Olympic Qualifying tournament.

They are set to face Canada in the championship on Sunday, who also earned their Olympic berth with a 1-0 win over Costa Rica. Canada has finished slightly behind the United States as a runner up in the last three qualifying tournaments.

30 SPORTS FIGURES WHO DIED IN 2018 – TRIBUTE SLIDESHOW 

Samantha Mewis scored twice, while Rose Lavelle and Christen Press each added one for the United States.

Four years ago in Brazil, the Americans lost to Sweden in the quarterfinals, giving them the team’s earliest exit in the Olympic tournament.

The United States has won the gold medal four times and has made the field every Olympics since soccer became an official Olympic sport in 1996.

For Crystal Dunn, this was her 100th appearance with the US national team.

Looking to avenge that disappointing 2016 Olympic run, the dominance of the United States was on full display as they look to once again prove they are the best in the world.

The Americans will take on Canada on February 9 at 6:00 p.m. EST in the final of the CONCACAF Women’s Olympic Qualifying tournament.

It will be shown on FS2.

Carli Lloyd proved this week she is not just a talented soccer player and that she could also have a shot at playing in the NFL one day.

The 37-year-old Sky Blue FC star — who last month helped the United States Women’s National Team win their second straight World Cup title — attended a joint practice between the Baltimore Ravens and Philadelphia Eagles on Tuesday and quickly impressed after nailing a 55-yard field goal.

Lloyd, a die-hard Eagles fan, also kicked several 40-yard field goals on the field in Philadelphia.

“I’m really impressed with all these guys,” Lloyd said in a video she posted. “It’s awesome to be here. Really looking forward to the season.”

IN MEMORIAM: SPORTS FIGURES WHO DIED IN 2019 TRIBUTE SLIDESHOW

The video showing Llyod’s kicking ability rapidly spread around online and caught the attention of Pro Football Hall of Famer Gil Brandt, who said he believed she could make history as the first female NFL player and deserved at least an “honest tryout.”

“Honestly, I don’t think it will be long before we see a woman break through this NFL barrier,” tweeted Brandt, the former vice president of player personnel for the Dallas Cowboys. “I’d give her an honest tryout if I were, say, the Bears.”

Brandt’s suggestion isn’t a bad idea, considering the Bears displayed terrible kicking in the playoffs last year against Philadelphia. Eddy Pineiro is set to be the team’s kicker for the 2019 season.

During the U.S. Women’s National Team’s World Cup victory parade last month, Lloyd paid tribute to her favorite NFL team by chanting “Fly Eagles Fly.”

Lloyd, a two-time Olympic gold medallist and FIFA Player of the Year, scored three goals in this year’s World Cup. She hinted at possibly retiring after defeating the Netherlands in the final of the tournament in France, so perhaps a future in the NFL could be in store for her.

The midfielder also isn’t the only Eagles fan on the USWNT. Julie Ertz is married to Eagles tight end Zach Ertz. 

Back in March, the United States Women’s National Team filed a gender discrimination lawsuit with an open court to the United States Soccer Federation over their players’ salaries, and how they deserve equal pay.

The USSF’s president Carlos Cordeiro released a statement this week regarding the women’s team’s pay relative to the men’s, saying that the women’s team is not only paid equally to the men’s team, it is in fact paid more. The statement is a collection of both teams’ financial data over almost a decade, and shows the women’s team earned nearly $8 million more than the men’s team over that period, despite the latter group producing 65% of U.S. Soccer’s overall revenue.

The men’s team produces almost two-thirds of the revenue for both teams because of sponsorships, TV deals and overall viewership. The 2015 Women’s World Cup had around 764 million viewers that were added up within the entire tournament, according to the Washington Examiner. Compare that to the 1.1 billion viewers that watched just the 2018 World Cup Final between France and Croatia. The entire men’s World Cup racked up almost 3.6 billion total viewers.

The equal pay issue is complicated at best. According to the statement, the two teams are on entirely different pay structures, which is negotiated in contracts with those parties.

IN MEMORIAM: SPORTS FIGURES WHO DIED IN 2019 TRIBUTE SLIDESHOW

Molly Levinson, a representative for the women’s team, responded to the statement openly, saying, “this is a sad attempt by the USSF to quell the overwhelming tide of support the USWNT has received from everyone from fans to sponsors to the United States Congress,” she said, according to ESPN. “The USSF has repeatedly admitted that it does not pay the women equally and that it does not believe the women even deserve to be paid equally. This is why they use words like ‘fair’ and ‘equitable,’ not ‘equal,’ in describing pay.”

The USSF also said that from 2009 to 2019, the women’s team has produced a total net loss of $27 million, compared to a $3 million net loss for the men’s team over the same time period.

The USMNT released a statement following the letter the USSF released. “The USMNT players were not impressed with US Soccer Federation president Carlos Cordeiro’s letter made public on Monday. The Federation downplays contributions to the sport when it suits them. This is more of the same from a Federation that is constantly in disputes and litigation and focuses on increasing revenue and profits without any idea how to use that money to grow the sport. One way to increase profit unfairly is to refuse to pay national team players a fair share of the revenue they generate,” the statement read, according to ESPN.

The US Women’s National Team defended their 2015 World Cup title after winning it again on Sunday, beating the Netherlands 2-0 in France. This US team is the second team in both men’s and women’s international world cups that successfully won two World Cups back-to-back, joining the men’s Italian team accomplishing this near-impossible task in the 1930s.

After making history, what does the future hold for older stars Carli Lloyd, 36, and Megan Rapinoe, 34? Lloyd has hinted at retirement, while Rapinoe doesn’t seem to be slowing down anytime soon.

“I don’t feel like I’m that old,” Rapinoe said after the final, according to ESPN. “I’m made for this.”

She certainly didn’t show any sign of slowing down during the final on Sunday. Rapinoe became the first player in the women’s World Cup to start in three straight finals. She gave the US the winning goal and earned the Golden Boot for the most goals in the tournament. Rose Lavelle scored the reassurance goal in the 69th minute to secure the Women’s World Cup for the US. Alex Morgan took the starting role up front for the majority of the tournament, forcing Lloyd to sit on the bench, but she still contributed to the team scoring three goals over the 2019 tournament. Lloyd will be turning 37 this July, and has hinted at retirement herself.

SPORTS FIGURES WHO DIED IN 2019: IN MEMORIAM SLIDESHOW 

“It’s been a really tough couple of years,” Lloyd said, according to ESPN. “It’s not based on my ability. And for whatever reasons, coaches make the decision. I tried to put up a good case. So I’m going to go home, I’m going to kind of let the emotions die down a little bit, speak to my husband and we’ll go from there.”

The 2020 Olympics are coming as well, with Lloyd possibly playing for another year before retiring to try to further build her impressive trophy cabinet. For now, though, the team can celebrate accomplishing two World Cups in eight years, something they can surely be proud about.

“The goal was winning. It’s been a really tough couple of years for me – I’ve been open and honest about it,” Lloyd said after the final, according to Sporting News. “First and foremost, I’m really proud of this team and proud to be on this roster of 23 players to win another World Cup.”